The country singer, who does not have custody of the boy, but took him to Tennessee after a recent visit at her father's house, said she could not return him because she is nearly seven months pregnant with twins and can not travel.

"I'm doing all this to protect Zander, not stay out of trouble," McCready wrote in an e-mail to the Associated Press on Thursday. "I don't think I should be in trouble for protecting my son in the first place."

A judge signed an order Thursday directing authorities to take Zander into custody and return him.

On Friday, both McCready's mother, Gayle Inge and the boy's father, Billy McKnight made public pleas for the troubled singer to return her son.

"It is our hope that ... Mindy will comply with law enforcement and recognize this is in the best interest of Zander," Inge said in a written statement. She asked anyone with information about their whereabouts to call police.